Decoy device



Dec. 26, 1939. D. BONETTI DECOY DEVICE Filed Aug. 11, 1939 INVENT l OR.7 mnz' Eoei ll ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED PATENT OFFHCE DECOY. DEVICEDomenic-Bonetti; Portland,1Maine Application;August..11,,;i9s9; SerialNo. 2s9,s10'- 4 Claims. (01. lie-as) In thevhunting'zof certaingame...birds; such as simple mechanism which may be supplied to theduck, geese or :otherflig-htswimmers; much di-fll-L' sportsman who canthus-convert his old solid culty-has been'experienced asilawshavebecome. block 'decoy winto lifelike head turning simulamore stringentfor-their; protection; 1 tions of ducks, gees a Other fl t sy CertainStatesz haveqlaws prohibiting the use discussion is to beunderstood-ascovering both 5 of live-decoys and withtheincrease inzthenumthecompleted combination or the mechanism as bersof shooters as the.sports popularity inan attachrnentto be embodied in decoys ofvarcreased, therehas beena marked wariness oftheious kinds as will beapparent to those skilled in 1 flyingbirds to co-me'over or, down or ifthey do i this art and its practices.

in withinrange from blind, sink or float. I ofsmechanism according to'myinvention ap- From-myv observations of these birds during plied tothebottomside of the decoy so as to be thehunting season-or as a matterof interest as. whollyooncealed by it.

an admireryduringplosed season; Ihave learned; In practice I provide aplate. ihaving a bracket alight onthe water-they show :reluctance'tocome In Figs. 1 and 2 I have indicated simple forms if some of. theirvital behavior characteristics. I 2 formed with a shallow hollow-orspheric bear- 15 it I have also studied the behaviorisma of theinanieins 3 which freely supports the pendulum 1 mate bird or: decoy and;from: the: two;sets;,of1 4 through a ball dwhich'is attachedto the rodobservations have visualized vthe:;difference-be p 'a y midway of itsends 50318 to tween-the two; form with thevbearing tv a universal joint.At

20, l My concept is that of a buoyant decoy haying itslower endthe rod 4carries a weight 6". This 20.

certain-,1 potential simula-tive characteristics. as is preferably alead sphere which acts as a penduin resting, feeding or swimming,either-alone 'or' lum for receiving the forces developed by the'ride intheeflock-yso that its appeal. to-tl1e living birding'ofithe decoy onwaves in any direction.

whichit simulates is increasedin a markedde- These movements it tranmits to a' link 7 eX-' gree, or I might say, in a way not Whollyto-be-'tendingt forwardly of the rod isand freely con- 25 expected eithermechanically or fromthe psynected to an eye 8 at its upper end by an eye9 chology of the livingbird; formedin the end of the rod whichconstitutes This ispartly a'matter of-simulativeposture the link andfreely engaging the eye'ii at the on the part of theinanimate decoy,partly a mate upper end of the pendulum arm 4.

ter'otmovement, and partlya-matter of corn-n At its forward end the rodof the link I is 30 binedhaturali gestures, difficult to v describebut:provided 2with;another eye Hi forming afree joint easily observediinaction. with the eye 'll of a short lateral offset arm l2 Such I willattempt to point out in connection on the lever I3 pivoted at M of aquadrant l5. with'my description of the mechanics of the mat The-teethof the quadrant ltrnesh With'a small ter.- As illustrative.Ihaveshown-certain char-.-- gear it onitheendyofan upright shaft ll ro-35 acteristicforms: and parts-and suggested ,instaltatab-ly supportedinthe sleeve l8 carried by a lation. base plate lfi'attached. to'theforward orhead In the drawing, in which like reference char endof thedecoy D.

acters'iare" employed 1 to indicate corresponding The severed head D( isfitted at the. base vof 40 parts: the neck with an inset wear plate 20through 40 Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a decoy which thethreaded end of the preferably square according to my invention. endhead shaft is screwed to give it a free per- Fig. 2 is a cross sectionthrough the neck and manent mounting on the neck kerf d; which Isuggesting movements and forces, and counterbore as at 2! to receive afixed collar 22 Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View of the head turning restingon the upper end of the sleeve I8. This 45 devices detached. gives afree turning bearing between the plate Referring to the drawing I haveindicated at 20 and the upper face of the fixed collar 22 so D a decoywhich may be of any type but preferthat each slight movement of thependulum 6 is ably is a simple one of solid wood, such as hunterstransmitted to the head to turn it more or less usually have inconsiderable numbers for anchorin either direction according to theinitial direc- 5o ing in front of a blind, sink or float. The head tionof movement of the heavy lead sphere 6 in D of such a decoy may besevered as by a simple planes other than perpendicular to the link I.saw cut at approximately the line (1. t In practice, the decoys areanchored to give a While my invention contemplates the producconcealedattachment and yield a maximum of tion of completed decoys, it alsoprovides for a lifelike appearance. By positioning the bracket 55 I tothe rear of the decoy body, the parts being proportioned and adjusted,the body D will float in a natural swimming posture when anchored asindicated. This permits it to swing freely to point into the wind and sobe exposed to cross waves or ripples as the wind shifts or changesdirection.

The structure indicated is very simple but is found to be wonderfullyefiective in picking up the riding movements with varied rollings in anydirection and convert them into head turning movements with agreatappearance of naturalness so necessary to deceive the keenobservation of fliers or swimmers, so that they will come close withinrange.

As indicated, my devices can be applied to ordinary wood or block decoysby simply attaching the parts in proper position on the bottom of thebody. This is usually flat so that it is only ne essary to screw them inplace as by ordinary od screws.

When an old decoy has been decapitated to provide a new mounting of thehead, this is readily accomplished by boring a suitable hole in thevertical neck axis to receive the sleeve and its attachments. The foreand aft distribution of weight permits the decoy to float with its Waterline disposed as intended in the original design.

I am aware that it has been proposed to provide a hollow decoy with acounterweighted head,

but such would not provide for the natural ap pearance of the bird inresting or swimming about to feed. My concept of the illusion is a .slowturning of the head in one direction or another which imparts anappearance of life to ordinary block or like decoys and attracts thewild birds coming over and lighting nearby.

Decoys according to my invention may be set or anchored according to theindividual preferences or prejudices but with reasonable setting andwind and tide conditions the hunter may be assured of an interestinginanimate performance and a reasonable bag.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a head turning device for a buoyant decoy for ducks or like flightfowl having a body member and a transversely severed neck, an attachmentfor the bottom of the body member including a bracket having a hollowspheric seat, a rigid arm, a spheric stop on said arm, a weight belowsaid stop and supported by said stop below the center of gravity of thedecoy, a neck stem, means for rotatably supporting said neck stem in theforward part of a decoy including bearing plates for the neck, a lever,means for rotatably transmitting the movements of said lever to saidstem, and a link connecting said Weight arm to .perpendicular to saidlink said transverse lever arm by universally adjusting joints, wherebymovement of said weight in planes other than perpendicular to said linktransmits a turning motion to the decoy head.

2. In a head turning device for a buoyant decoy for ducks orlike flightfowl having a body member and a transversely severed neck, an attachmentfor the bottom of the body member including a bracket having a hollowspheric seat, a rigid arm, a spheric stop on the arm,-a weight belowsaid stop and supported by said stop below the center of gravity of thedecoy, a neck stem, a tubular bearing for vertically supporting saidstem in the forward part of a decoy including bearing plates for theneck, a lever, and a link connecting said weight arm to said transverselever arm by universally adjusting joints, whereby movement of saidweight in planes other than transmits a turning motion tothe decoy head.

3. In a head turning device for a buoyant decoy for ducks or like flightfowl having a body member and a transversely severed neck, an attachmentfor the bottom of the body member including a bracket having a hollowspheric seat, a

rigid arm, a spheric stop on said arm, a weight below said stop andsupported by'said stop below the center of gravity of the decoy, a neckstem,

means for rotatably supporting said neck stem I in the forward part of adecoy including bearing plates for the neck, a lever having a transversearm, means for rotatably transmitting the movements of said lever tosaid stem, and a link connecting said weight arm to'said transverselever arm by universally adjusting joints, whereby movement of saidweight in planes other than perpendicular to said link transmits aturning motion to the decoy head.

4. In a head turning device for a buoyant decoy for ducks or like flightfowl having a body member and a transversely severed neck, an

attachment for the bottom of the body member I including a brackethaving a hollow spheric seat,

a rigid arm, a spheric stop on said arm, a weight below said stop andsupported by said stop below the center of gravity of the decoy, a neckstem, means for rotatably supporting said neck stem in the forward partof a decoy including bearing plates for the neck, a lever having atransverse arm of bell crank type, and means for rotatablytransmittingthe movements of said lever to said stem, a segment and pinion, and alink connecting said weight arm to said transverse lever arm byuniversally adjusting joints, whereby movement of said weight in planesother than perpendicular to said link transmits a turning motion to adecoy head.

DOD/EENIC BONETTI.

